Who are these people to say anything about the lowering of the Australian boom?
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson blasted the complacency about the boom as he took aim at managers and unions for failing to keep costs down, declaring that wage claims would have to be cut in line with lower prices. ‘Industry itself has got to front up to better managing some of these projects. In terms of construction projects, management has become sloppy,’ he said.
Their industrial relations laws, mining taxes, profligate spending and intrusive regulations are all known quantities that have been raised since this government first took the reins. That it has all unraveled in their incompetent hands is nothing other than what ought to have been expected. So instead we get this from Martin Ferguson:
‘The world has changed. We’ve got a great opportunity as a nation, a great pipeline of investment, but you know it’s not guaranteed unless we work hard at delivering,’ he said after a speech on the industry’s future.
If only they’d taken this attitude five years ago before they botched it rather than trying to close the barn door after the horse has gone. What an absolutely incompetent government this has been.
I suspect the answer is gonna be: “let’s not – the punters might put two and two together and get four”
JamesK
19 Sep 12 at 9:30 am
Talked a good recruiter I know yesterday, he says he’s get sick of having to re-program the Gen Y morons.
There is a generation that came into the workforce from 2001 to 2008 who are shocked at the new reality where they have to prove to employers how they were going to either:
* Increase their revenue
* Save them on costs, and/or
* Save them on time
Token
19 Sep 12 at 10:08 am
I like Mar’n but he’s got a hide lecturing anybody in the private sector about efficiency with the absolute incompetence his government has displayed over the last 5 years.
tbh
19 Sep 12 at 10:32 am
Labor has already moved on.
Asian century anyone?
H B Bear
19 Sep 12 at 10:43 am
I have some sympathy for Martin ferguson in that if he had been PM not Resources Minister a lot of the dopey stuff done since ALP came to power this time around would not have happened. He is however about the only bloke in that outfit I think would be in that category. As Andrew Bolt says he is the only “resident adult” in the Govt.
kingsley
19 Sep 12 at 10:52 am
Try again Kingsley. Martin Ferguson may be the the ‘only adult’ in this protected workshop of a government, but he is still part of the problem.
Can you imagine him voting for the overall benefit of Australia, against Juliar?
jeffthe
19 Sep 12 at 11:06 am
Give the man a break. The man is a straight shooter and a blessing to Labor. If more were like him they wouldn’t be in this mess.
I got respect for the man in ’93 when he refused to defend Keating for breaking election promises.
Remember the quote that the ACTU “could not could not defend the indefensible”. A real man in a party full of intellectual pygmies.
Token
19 Sep 12 at 11:11 am
There goes the myth of the “good German:” again.. If you support a corrupt and fucked up government guess what, you are corrupt and fucked up for supporting it.
I spoke to a local member during the live cattle trade debacle, labour, ex-trucking company man.. I asked how he could suport the ban and general rooting of an entire industry given his background. He was upset but guess what, hes just as immoral as the worst greenie appeaser in the party.
Its probably never been more clear party loyalty trumps personal ethics/industry knowledge. A damn near hung parliment one member with conviction could have stopped a horde of bad outcomes, yet not even one has.
Not one.
On any issue.
thefrollickingmole
19 Sep 12 at 11:15 am
It seems the alp-wankersvare the Same Asthe islamofascists! Comply or Die! The alp-wankers dony behead dissident apostates ,but its nearly as bad , look at Kerr after he sacked the useless witless guvmint? No chance of comrade bryce doing the same , shes part of the incestuous liebor gang.
Borisgodunov
19 Sep 12 at 11:31 am
Frollickingmole, you have beautifully summed up the Labor Party as the party of no conscience(votes).
jeffthe
19 Sep 12 at 11:31 am
In the Augean stables its better to leave the door open.
Jannie
19 Sep 12 at 11:48 am
Agreed. No matter how much he laments what we’ve missed out on, he’s part of the group that fostered it so he also owns it.
Steve D
19 Sep 12 at 12:24 pm
LOL
Reality is there always will be people on the other side with values different to yours who you have to deal with, it does not diminish us in any way to note who we’d rather negotiate with.
Token
19 Sep 12 at 1:34 pm
Well Mar’n is a hero to me – he hates renewball energy. Also one of the most competent people on either side of parliament – about the only honest minister labour have as well.
Bill
19 Sep 12 at 1:54 pm
Martin is ALP and a leopard doesn’t change its spots.
He might be a nice enough bloke, the so-called ‘resident adult’, but he is outnumbered hopelessly and won’t do anything too dramatic.
Sad as it is, but realistic!
Hubert East
19 Sep 12 at 5:26 pm
Agree that Mar’n is about the only adult in the Gov. However, when he says “In terms of construction projects, management has become sloppy” one wonders how many construction project he has managed. Please tell us Mar’n, and tell us how well you did…And please tell us while you are at it how your Gov has become better at managing project environmental approvals and reducing sovereign risk.
Siltstone
19 Sep 12 at 8:17 pm
He is the only adult tanning in the pool of shit his gang created.
Unionists telling the private sector employers they got it wrong is vomit inducing. He should just shut the fuck up and remember the cockheads he supports. Just another dickhead. Sorry, he’s shit.
Tiny Dancer
19 Sep 12 at 9:24 pm